Full fashioned knitting machine



Jan. 29, 1935. K. HOWlE FULL FASHIONED ,KNITTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sneet 1 Original Filed June 3, 1933 Jan. 29, 1935. y K. HOWIE 1,939,232

FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed June a. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F 1 4. E1 5. I

Patented Jan. 29, 1935 I 3 UNITED STATES Aren't oric' FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Kenneth Howie, Norristown, Pa, assignor to Wildman Mtg. 00., Norristown, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 3, 1933, Serial No. 674,242 Renewed December 5, 193d 9 Claims. (Cl. 66-129) The invention is an improvement in the mech- The slide bars s4 have rack bars 88 associated anism for making the high splice in full fashioned therewith, these being adjustable on the slide hosiery such as is disclosed in application forbars, so that the stops S can be accurately set in Letters Patent of the United States filed by Kenposition. For this purpose the slide bars have neth Howie and Charles C; Krieble Feb. 4., 1932, upwardly extending terminal projections 1 5 Ser. No. 590,942, Patent No. 1,982,991. One obthrough which screws 2 extend into the rack bars. ject of the present invention is to provide im- At their other ends the rack bars are held to proved connections for operating the stops for the'slide bars by screws '8 extending through determining the stroke of the yarn carrier means slots or notches 4 in the rack bar into the slide in forming the reinforced area above the heel, bar. Pinions s1 engage these racks. Rock shafts 1o so that free space of maximum area will be af- 82 have the said pinions mounted thereon. Thev forded between the centrally disposed stops and rock shafts are mounted in the fixed bracket 360:. the selvage stops for the adjustment of the latter At their rear ends these rock shafts have gears 55 to a point in relatively close relation to the center arranged adjacent each other, though spaced of the stop organization so that the English form sufliciently far apart to receive between them a 15 of stocking readily can be made as well as the vertically movable rod q? having rack teeth s7 French form. on its opposite sides meshing with the gears 85 Other objects will appear from the following so that when this vertically arranged rack bar is specification and the appended claims. moved vertically the gears s5 will be turned and In the drawings the rock shafts will be operated so that the pin- 2o Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a porions 81 will be operated to move the racks 88 tion of the knitting machine embodying a part and slide bars s4 will be operated to adjust the of the invention. stops S along the carrier bands so as to determine F g. 2 is a rear view of Fig. 1. the lengths of movements of said bands and con- Fig. 3 is a side view looking from the left sequently the tapered form of the reinforced area 25 of Figs. 1 and 2. or high splice. The same vertical movement of Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the stop mechathe rack bar q'l will result in the adjustment of nismthe two stops S in opposite directions, one moving Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing stop to the right and the other to the left along their members inelevation on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. respective flexible band yarn guide carriers to so Figs. 6 and '7 show details. make the reinforced area above the heel tabs of Fig. 8 is a detail view of part of pattern mechathe stocking blank. The vertically arranged rack nism and connections leading therefrom for cone bar is guided in the bracket all. This rack bar is trolling a ratchet shield. operated vertically step by step by a cam q with In these drawings 26 Fig. 1 indicates the endwhich engages a roller (18 at the lower end of the 35 less flexible bands, the front stretches of which rack carrying bar q7. The cam q is mounted for have the yarn guides mounted thereon to be rotation in the bracket ql. It is operated by amoved along the straight needle row by driving ratchet wheel q3 and a pawl g2, said pawl being means like those shown in said patent applicacarried by a leverb3 operated by a cam bx. En-

40 tion, but not shown herein. gagement of the pawl with the ratchet is con- 40 The stops for arresting the yarn carrier bands trolled by a shield q9 which in turn is controlled for determining the tapered reinforced or spliced by a flexible rod'qlo extending from suitable patarea are shown at S. These stops project down tern mechanism through a guide tube Q13. The into the path of dogs or projections on the bands shield is pivotally mounted at 6 to a bracket arm so that when the dogs strike the stops the yarn 'l and it is stressed by a spring 8 tending to move 45 carrier band will be arrested to determine the the shield outwardly so as to present its edge margin of the reinforced area of fabric, it being ,9, upon which the pawl rides out beyond the understood that the driving device for the bands teeth of the ratchet. hasfrictional engagement therewith so' that when The cam preferably has rests or steps on its 0 the band is arrested by the stop the friction periphery the distance from center'to center of 60 drive means can pass on to the limit ofits regular which represents the length of the step movestroke. These stops project downwardly from the 'ments imparted to the cam by the pawl and ends of bars 84 slidably mounted in the bracket ratchet. A spring q14 stresses the rack bar q? 36:: arranged at the .center of the length of the downwardly so-as to keep the roller q8 upon the rear stretches of the flexible yam carrier bands. periphery of the cam q n re the p 55 rying slides s4 with stops S to their positions of rest.

There is a push block a6 carrying the roller q8 and secured to the lower end of the rack bar q'l. This push block operates a push rod p4 through a guide tube p5 like in the application referred to, to operate a lever at the front of the machine for adjusting said lever along a tapered cam so as to be operated by said cam for different periods, thus to control the loop regulating rock shaft which controls the lengths of the: loops all as in the application before referred to. The guide tube p5 extends in a circuitous position to the front of the machine so as to guide the flexible rod :24 to its point of work. Two actions therefore take place when the rack bar q7 together with the push block q6 rise, one of these actions being the adjustment of the stops S for arresting the reinforcing yam carriers at the prescribed varying limits of their stroke to make the tapered reinforced areas of the stocking blank and the other at the rear of th action being the operation of the loop length regulating'shaft to get longer loops for the reinforced areas. 1

It will be noted that the connections extending from the cam q which conveniently, is located achine) to the stops S and including the vert cally movable rack bar W, the pinions, rock shafts s2 and slide bars 34 provide an operating organization for the stops S which occupy none of the space laterally beyond the stops S or in other words these operating connections do not occupy any of the space between the stops S and the outside selvage stops carried by the brackets 36c as in the application referred to. These brackets 36c which carry the outside selvage stops for arresting the yarn carriers to define the outside limits of the fabric are adjustable towards each other as the fabric is being knit and fashioned by the screw shaft sections 43 operated by the gearing 43a, 43b, through connections described in said application, and the adjustment of these outside selvage stops defines the of the fabric. At H1 are shown the home stops for the yarn carrier bands, this being a feature of said application.

By reason, therefore, of the employment of the. operating connections for the stops 8 of a character which will occupy only the space between the vertical planes, extending transversely of the yarn carrier bands, in which said stops 8 lie, it

will be understood that the outside selvage stop by the adjustment of their brackets 36c, 36c inwardly towards each other can be brought close to thetransverse center line of the organization. The reason that this capacity to adjust the outside selvage stop inwardly towards each other to a maximum degree is'of advantage, lies in the circumstance that in making an English form of full fashioned stocking blank wherein the instep portion of the footis knitted as an integral or continuous extension of the leg and heel tab blank, the foot portion of the blank is of less width than the foot of what is known as the French full fashioned stockings. This difference between the English and French styles of blank requires that in making the English style the outside selvage stops must be capable of adjustment nearer to the transverse center of the machine than is possible with the organization disclosed in said patent application wherein flexible push rods were employed for adjusting the stops 8 and which rods or wires, by reason of their location interfered with the same degree of inward adjustment of the outside selvage stops as is possible with the present means of adjusting said stops S, S.

Thisrackand pinion arrangement, including the vertical rack q7, the rock shafts 2, the pinions and the racks s8 takes up little room in a direction lengthwiseof the yarn carrier bands, and no more than do the stops S, S, whatever the adjusted position of the latter may be. Hence, there is ample space for the adjustment inwardly towards the transverse center line of the machine of the outside selvage stops carried by the brackets 36c.

The ratchet wheel q3 has a low tooth at 5 by means of which the normal position of rest, or in other words, the starting point of the cam q is determined. By this tooth also the cam will be brought into proper time with the other parts of the machine in the event that a press off takes place and a new fabric is started. In such a circumstance the operator will not have to pay any attention to resetting the cam in'to properly timed relation with the progress of the work being performed, as the resetting of this cam will be taken care of automatically. This cam is operatedduring the making of the high splice or reinforced area above the heel by the pawl q2 engaging the teeth on the ratchet wheel q3.

For this action there is provided a pattern *(which holds the pawl out of the. ratchet) m a half way position so that while the high teeth will be engaged by the pawl the low tooth will be shielded from the action of the pawl and hence the ratchet'wheel will come to rest at the starting point. No matter therefore, what angular position the cam and ratchet may be in if the shield is set in the half way position the pawl will keep on moving the ratchet wheel and'the cam until the low tooth comes around to stop the cam at its position of rest, so that it may be started up in. proper timed relation with the other parts of the machine.

This action of automatically setting the cam q to its starting position, in case of apress off, will be carried on during the time that the yarn carrier bands, which carry the splicing yar s, are at rest, 1. e. not engaged by the appropriate pawls of the reciprocating driver described in said application.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, the stops s when in normal position for beginning the formation of the high splice lie close to the opposite isides of the bracket 36:. When they are operated by the racks and pinions they move in .opposite directions away from the transverse center line of the organization and therefore away from'the bracket. This movement is step by step as will be clear from an inspection of the cam q. Referring to Figs. 1, 4 and 5, it will be seen that the stop S at the right of'thebracket 36a: and consequently to the right of a vertical plane passing .through the center of the said bracket transverselyof the yarn carriers is carried by the slide bar, which together with its rack extends leftward from said right hand stop. 0n the contrary the left hand stop 8 which lies to the left of said bracket in the said Figures 1 and 4 is carried by a slide bar-,which together with its rack extends across said bracket and terminates to the right thereof.

The pinions s1 engage the inner ends of their aeeaasa these are turned by the upward movement of they centrally disposed rack bar 017 acting through pinions s and shafts $2 the rack bars with their slide bars will be drawn inwardly towards the 5 center of the organization thus clearing the space at opposite sides of the bracket while their stops S will be moved outwardly towards the outside selvage stops carried by the brackets 36s.

It being one of the objects of the invention to make the brackets 36c carrying the selvage stops to be adjusted close to the transverse center line of the machine, the assembly devised to that end involves motion transmitting means between the cam q'and the stops 8 which are arranged substantially at or adjacent to said center line, leaving the space between said stops S and the selvage stops carried by the brackets 36c free from obstructing'elements. Therefore, the assembly, in the particular arrangement shown, as an example of m invention, includes the rack bar ql at the said center line and the closely adjacent pinions and rock shafts. The

invention in this regard, however, is not limited to the specific means disclosed. One characteristic of the assembly may be mentioned in that the stops S are operated by rotary elements arranged near the transverse center line of the assembly which rotary elemental. e. the pinions, are operated by a reciprocating member like the bar q? and said rotary elements transmit reciprocating movement to the stops S by way, for instance, of the slide bars, and racks, to which, however, the invention in its broader aspect is not limited.

In Fig. 8 is shown a pattern chain .1: having a high button m1 and a low button :2. The The high button will operate a lever 11, which, in turn, will operate the flexible rod q10 to set the shield q9 to allow pawl ratchet q3 one tooth.

When no button is under the lever 11, the shield q9 covers the ratchet teeth and the pawl will not engage the ratchet.

When the reinforced area is completed, and

-the cam q is to be reset, or retimed, so as to oc-v cupy its starting position, a low button 9:2 will operate lever 31 to push the flexible rod q10 only enough to operate shield q9 to enable pawl 5 to engage the regular teeth on the ratchet, but not enough to expose the low tooth 5 so that when this low tooth comes.around to the pawl, the ratchet will not be operated by the pawl, but will come to rest in its starting position. The cam on opposite sides but adjacent a vertical plane passing transversely and midway of the length of the yarn guide carriers for limiting the stroke of said reinforcing yarn guide carriers, and means for adjusting the said centrally-disposed reinforcing yarn guide carrier stops comprising a cam and means operated thereby and disposed substantially in said transverse vertical plane midway the length of the yarn guide carriers, with connections from said means to said stops, the region between said reinforcing ya guide carrier stops and the opposing selvage sto s being free from obstruction to permit adjustment of said selvage g2 to advance the q is then in proper position to start another stops inwardly to position in close relation to each other, substantially as described.

2. In combination in a full fashioned knitting machine, reciprocating yarn'guide carriers, adjustable outside selvage .stops to arrest the carriers for fashioning, .reinforcing yarn guide carrier stops disposed between the selvage stops and on opposite sides but adjacent a vertical plane passing transversely and midway of the length of the yarn guide carriers for limiting the stroke of said reinforcing yarn guide carriers, and means for adjusting the said centrally disposed reinforcing yarn guide carrier stops comprising a slide bars, plnions meshing with the racks, shafts carrying the pinions, other pinions on said shafts,

a vertically arranged rack bar engaging said last mentioned pinions, and means for moving the vertical rack bar up and down to simultaneously operate the pinions and the slide bars carrying the stops, said mechanism leaving room beside it for the adjustment towards each other of outside selvage stops, substantialhr as described.

4. In a full fashioned knitting machine, adjustable stops at substantially the center line of the machine for arresting reinforcing yarn guide carriers for defining the reinforced area of the fabric, and means for operating said stops comprising rotary means located substantially at said center line, a cam with a connection to said rotary means for operating the same, and a connection between the said rotary means and the stops, the connection leading from the cam to the rotary means comprising a rack bar operated by said cam and a pair. of pinions operated by the rack bar, connected with the shafts of the rotary means, substantially as described.

5. A high splice mechanism for full fashioned knitting machines comprising stops for arresting the yarn guide carriers for reinforcing yarn, a

cam with connections to said stops for adjusting them to define the reinforced area, .a ratchet for operating the said cam having a low tooth, a pawl with means for operating the same to turn the ratchet and means for controlling the position of the pawl relative to the ratchet to take the high teeth and not the low tooth whereby the cam with .the stops will be restored to starting position.

6. A high splice mechanism for full fashioned knitting machines comprising stops for arresting the yarn guide carriers for reinforcing yarn, a cam with connections to said stops for adjusting them to define the reinforced area, a ratchet for operating the said cam having a low tooth, a pawl with means for operating the same to turn the ratchet and means for controlling the position of the pawl relative to the ratchet, to miss all of the ratchet teeth for maintaining the cam in its position of rest, to take all of the teeth for making the cam perform a cycle of operation, and to take the high teeth but miss the low tooth whereby the cam will come to rest at its starting point, substantially as described.

, knitting machines comprising stops for arresting the yarn guide carriers for reinforcing yarn, a cam with connections to said stops for adjusting them to define the reinforced area,'a ratchet for operating the said cam having a low tooth, a pawl with means for operating the same to turn the ratchet and means for controlling the position 01 the pawl relative to the ratchet, to miss all oi! theratchet teeth for maintaining the cam in its position of rest, to take all of the teeth for making the cam perform a cycle of operation, and

to take the high teeth but miss the vlow tooth whereby the cam will come to rest at itsstartins point, said controlling means comprising a shield for the pawl with a connection for adjusting the shield automatically.

8. In a full fashioned knitting machine, a pair of adjustable stops on opposite sides of a transverse center line of the machine for arresting reini'orcing yarn guide carriers for defining the reinforced area of the fabric, a pair of reciprocable memberseach carrying one of said stops,

a pair of rotatable members having their axes at rightangles to the direction or motion of the reciprocable members. a reciprocable bar movable in a direction at right angles to both the direction of motion of the reciprocable members and to the axes of the rotatable members, a driving connection between said reciprocable bar and said rotatable members, and separate driving connections between the rotatable members and said reciprocable members.

9. In a full fashioned knitting machine a pair of adjustable stops-on opposite sides of a transverse center line of the machine for arresting reinforcing yarn guide carriers for defining the reinforced area of the fabric, a pair of recip-" rocable members each carrying one of said stops and extending across said center line, a pair of rotatable members on opposite sides of said center line-and having their axes at right angles to the direction of motion of the reciprocable members, separate driving. connections between the rotatable members and the reciprocable members, the stop on one side of said center line being controlled by the rotatable member on the other side of said center line, and a common reciprocable bar for actuating saidrotatable members.

KENNETH HOWIE. 

